Gabe's Destiny (Alien Mates Book Three) (11 page)

Gabe walked over to Taya, placed her behind him, then he swung. This kid needed a lesson in manners and he was willing to teach it.

“Oh look, the young pup wants to play.”

The kid ducked his punch, went under his swing, and picked him up by the neck.

“First rule—appearances can be deceiving. Just because it looks like a duck and quacks like one doesn’t really make it a duck.” The kid dropped him on his rear.

“What’s your name?”

“You can call me Voyager.” He flashed a smile looking older for a minute.

“Voyager, how do we get in and why are you here?” Gabe asked, eyeing him.

He hated him. It wasn’t his looks or even what he was wearing; it was the way Taya stopped when she saw him. The frozen look of pain on her face made him want to take this kid apart a piece at a time.

“You get in when the trial says it’s ready for you. As far as why I’m here, I have nothing to do. My daddy has money, lots of it. There’s no need for me to work so I like to hang around looking for cute women.” He threw Taya several air kisses.

“Are you sure you’re not interested in putting your mouth to work? I have it from several reliable sources that it’s the best time they ever had.”

Gabe came at him again. Voyager raised a hand creating a wall that kept him on the other side. “You know your potential soul-bonded reminds me of someone.”

“We’re not here to soul-bond.”

“You do know these are the trials?”

“We know, somehow we got temporarily paired up. We’re in each other’s head. The only way out of the situation is to go through the trials and have it declare we aren’t right for each other. After that we will be free from the other one.”

“Look at him. He’s screaming at you. I don’t think he wanted you to tell me that you’re not really together. Now it seems I can do anything I want with you without worrying about a soul-bond. That’s pretty tempting.”

She stepped back. Maybe telling him hadn’t been her smartest move. There was something about him that reminded her of Mike. Who was she kidding; everything about him reminded her of Mike. Right down to the fact that he is an arrogant son of a…

Was it really his fault that his daddy had lots of money?

“Look, we just want to get in there, do what we came to do, and go home.”

“Why? What’s wrong with him? True, he’s a little volatile but he was defending your honor. So why don’t you want him?”

“What’s happening isn’t any of your business.”

“So you’re one of those types. The ones who can’t be honest with themselves so they can’t be honest with anyone else. I bet I’m your type of male. All I want is a nice roll in the hay. I would hit that a couple times, make you scream in pleasure, then leave. It’s not like women like you deserve a male anyways. You really aren’t good for much. Yeah, I’d leave you high and dry and start looking for someone my daddy would approve of. I mean I have to get married and produce children. I just wouldn’t let you be the mother.”

Taya screamed and charged him. She would beat him down for talking to her like that. Her anger took over. When she reached him she jumped on him. He picked her up and threw her like a rag doll through the door that was open.

“Now what do I do with you?” The block came down and Gabe’s scream could be heard reverberating through the whole canyon. “Do you really think she’s worth it?”

“Yes, damn you. Where is she?”

“She has entered the trials. You might want to go with her or she’ll never make it out in one piece.”

Gabe turned to go in.

“Word of advice before you go. Sometimes we lash out at those we care about when the pain was brought on by someone we never really loved. Well move, times ticking. See you on the inside.”

Gabe ran; his mind was already on Taya and getting her out of there alive. He never saw the shadow that entered behind him.

Where was he? The sand was hot like he was in the desert. All he could see was blazing sun and blowing sand. This is why he liked the mountains; it was always so much cooler there. He placed one foot in front of the other trudging along until a clip with a ribbon tied to it hit him in the face.

Taya, it was hers. Why wasn’t it still in her hair? “Taya!” he screamed trying to be heard over the blowing wind. He heard his voice come back to him and then he heard the faint sound of his name and a plea for help. Increasing his speed, he tried to run in the sand and fell down.

“You’re never going to get to her in time like that.” Voyager stood beside him holding the reigns to two camels. “Well, come on if you want to ride.”

“I never rode a camel before.” Gabe climbed his way on the camel’s back. It wasn’t graceful but he was up there, while Voyager seemed to float up and settle on the back of the camel.

Voyager took off in a shot, his camel going faster than Gabe would have thought.

“Giddy up, camel. Go camel. Do your thing, camel.” Nothing. He tried gently kicking it in the side. It spat, not liking that.

There was a shrill whistle in the air that made the camel begin to move across the desert floor at a good clip. He held on fast and the camel seemed to pace itself. Right side, left side.

All that mattered was saving Taya. He repeated that several times as he almost fell off when the camel changed sides.

She was tied up wearing almost nothing. When she had been thrown into the trials, her body landed at the feet of slavers. They swore it was their lucky day. The god of slavery was alive and well and they would get a fortune for the grey eyed witch. Before she could think, they were on her, subduing her, pulling off her comfortable clothes. Then their hands roamed her body freely.

The older male stopped the younger saying they would get more for her if she was untouched. He hadn’t been happy; he made comments about him and her ass. They finally gave her something to put on. It was almost see through but right now she’d take whatever covering she could get.

Now she was standing in the middle of an oasis tied to a long pole that was in the ground. She spent the last hour or two trying to loosen it to give her a chance to escape with no luck. Although she had no idea where she thought she was going dressed like a whore with shoes that barely kept the sand from burning her feet. One thing at a time is what she was saying to herself right about now.

Her stomach growled as they picked up their food, neither of them even remotely interested in sharing with her. It was going to be a long hungry night.

In the end, it was the words that came out of their mouth that affected her most.

“Who will we sell her to?” The younger man asked as he forked more food in his mouth. He looked at her eyes, her breast, and her legs with appreciation before turning back to his food. “Maybe she will make a good breeder.”

“No one will use her for breeding purposes. She wasn’t meant to have children. I think we will get the most from Dilla. He loves females like her to entertain his friends. They will use her like a whore, passing her around from one to the other. She’ll enjoy it. I bet she’s been used in the past the same way.” The older man eyed her and nodded.

“I wouldn’t mind using her now.”

“Keep it in your pants. We need this score, and then you’ll be able to use whoever you want. Besides, Dilla likes to share. I bet he would get a kick out of watching you break her in.”

She refused to cry. How the hell did she end up here? It was supposed to be so easy. She would come here and Gabe would be free. Then he would be able to go on, find what he needed in a woman, and not be chained to someone that every man seemed to know wasn’t meant to be a wife or mother. A knife turned in her heart as images of Mike rose before her. A crushing weight on her chest almost made her cry out. ‘You’re nothing’ his voice whispered in her ear.

One tear after another fell as the little bit of confidence she held onto slipped through her fingers. She’d lost her dream job. Maybe being a hospital administrator didn’t seem like much, but she had worked her butt off for that position. Hours of her time at home had been spent pouring over plans for the hospital, the employees as well as the patients. She wanted her hospital to be cutting edge with employees who enjoyed coming to work and patients who recovered more often than not.

When she had to leave her job she’d been devastated. It felt more like a nail in her coffin. The belief that she wasn’t good enough hovered around her. Then to have to leave the house she worked so hard for. Her parents had been so proud of her when she recovered from her ordeal and bought her own place. Proof she was moving on, that she wouldn’t let him hold her down.

The young one got up when she wasn’t paying attention. His hand was over her mouth closing off her cries as his fingers pinched her nipples. She struggled hoping the other one would see and come to her rescue. What did it matter, a voice in her head asked? Now you will be used like you were always meant to be.

He lowered his head and bit her causing such pain she managed to cry out. A scream of outrage reached her. She knew that voice. Her eyes widened as she looked for Gabe. Was he her rescuer? The young one was pulled away from her by the older one, but it was two late because Gabe was there now. His form changed. The Matra was so big and scary looking that the men who took her were scrambling away from him, but all she saw was safety.

They reached for weapons. Gabe got to them first. He picked the first one up, the younger one. She waited, would he kill him? Run those sharp nails through him disemboweling him? Maybe she should want that but she didn’t. He threw him, the male landed in a heap having hit one of the few rocks in the oasis. He would be in pain but he wouldn’t die. Gabe shifted forms, the Arbrin coming back.

“You like stealing women and selling them into slavery?” His eyes lit up as the palms of his hand began to glow.

The older man tried to protest but a seal formed over his mouth.

“Sometimes you need a taste of your own medicine.” Flames shot out of Gabe’s hands surrounding the man until he was held tight in a set of chains. He turned to the younger one and did the same thing.

“Right on time.” He smiled at the two men before gathering them and placing them in the sand at his feet.

A caravan of men approached the oasis. They stopped and demanded to know what was happening.

Voyager walked behind Taya and whispered in her ear ‘that was close’ before reaching out and untying her.

“Not that it matters. Some women don’t deserve respect. We both know you’re one.”

She trembled with old demons scrambling her brain, tearing her down.

“I have a present for you,” Gabe’s voice pushed through the pain in her brain.

“What?” Another male spoke, seeming to be the one the others bowed to.

With a flourish Gabe drew their attention to the males at his feet. “They are pleasure slaves.”

The eyes of the male went over them slowly taking them in. He got down from the camel he was riding to come closer and look at them.

“They are in fine condition but what do I need with males who pleasure females? We have none of them with us.”

“These males are special; they will pleasure you with great enthusiasm.”

The male looking them over raised a brow before ripping the gag off the younger man’s mouth.

“Such a nice mouth. I could see it wrapped around my cock. How do you feel about that young one?” The man stroked his hair before lowering his lips to kiss him.

“I wish to please you, master.” The man smiled big.

“I’ll take them both. I owe you, if you ever need to, call on me.”

Gabe bowed his head with respect and quickly turned them over to him. With the transaction complete, he walked over to Taya who was standing next to Voyager and gave her a big smile.

“Now all we have to do…”

“You didn’t really think it would be that easy did you?”

Voyager turned, picked up Taya in his inhuman grip, and tossed her.

The last thing she heard was Gabe’s scream of rage.

*~*~*~*

She woke on a dirty floor. Her body started trembling long before her mind caught up with it. She’d been here before; she remembered it as clear as if she were twenty again.

Her life was good. She was in her second year of college; at the time she was taking pre-med. One day she would be a well-respected doctor. Her parents were so proud of her and saved to help her go to a rather prestigious school. Then she caught the eye of Michael Harwith II. Everything in her life seemed to make sense. She’d have the great love her parents shared with Mike, a career she could be proud of. Add a big house and children, the life she always dreamed of would be hers.

It hadn’t happened that way. Wrenching her mind away from the hell she went through, she stood feeling the pain in her legs and body like she was reliving her nightmare as she staggered towards a door. Please, she prayed, please let me out.

The knob turned giving her a momentary peace. She fell out the room and found herself in a bigger room. There were men, boys really, sleeping in there. They drank themselves into a stupor and she needed to get out without waking them. She crept to the door keeping the whimpers contained in the back of her throat and her tears firmly behind her lashes. Finally, she reached it, a silent turn of the knob and she was slipping out, running wildly across the lawn looking for salvation, vindication.

She stopped running when she was far away. What should she do next? That scene scared her. She was no longer the confident woman. Had she ever been confident? There was no way she could deal with the trauma that happened to her when she was young so she stuffed it inside. The therapist tried to reach her, but she didn’t want to be reached. She wanted to forget. Forget that men were cruel. Forget that she was weak. That was the day she gave up every dream she ever had. After that, any good thing that came her way she held onto with an open hand, because she knew with certainty that something would come her way to steal it. Like Gabe.

Dragging herself to her feet, she started to walk. Where would she go? How could she make this nightmare stop? Why was she being punished when all she wanted to do was help Gabe?